Saturday afternoon, I received the following message from my Internet provider of an “unscheduled maintenance service.” If you wanted to visit Migrant Tales, you got the following message below:
The problem started Saturday afternoon but after about eight hours, Migrant Tales was up and running and back to normal.
Apologies for the inconvenience.
The Police University College published this week its latest suspected hate crime statistics for 2019. It showed that while hate crimes, on the whole, had retreated a tad compared with 2018, 87.1% of all suspected cases were due to a person’s ethnic or religious background.
Other suspected hate crimes were due to sexual orientation (72 cases/5.7%), disability (44/4.9%), and gender identity (21/2.3%).
While we understand that these cases, like that of sexual assaults, are only the tip of the iceberg, the important question we should ask is how to challenge hate crime more effectively.
This may be easier said than done, considering that Finland is still living in denial when it comes to hate crime, hate speech, and racism.
Nobody has yet given a fair and honest answer to how Finland, with one of the best education systems in the world and whose laws are supposed to promote social equality but not equity, has seen the growth of an openly racist and radical right party?
The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is not only a racist party but one that brings out the worst side in the Finns when it comes to bigotry. It should not come to any surprise that the lion’s share of the most infamous Islamophobes in Finland are from the PS.
If Finland’s second-biggest party in parliament is openly Islamophobic and turns a blind eye to far-right ideology among its ranks, should we be surprised that so little is being done politically to challenge a social ill like racism?
The biggest problem in the police service’s relationship with racism and different minority communities in Finland is the low priority that this social ill has. Sometimes, one gets the impression that the police fear more the reaction of a minority community to what happened to a victim of its group than readily condemning hate crime.
Another matter that is a blow to police trust in resolving hate crime cases rapidly. Many who have reported racist harassment and threats to the police understand that your case may take months to resolve. In such cases, the police may even overlook the bias motivators as happened in Jämsä with an asylum seeker.
Another case that received wide coverage in June was an eighteen-year-old Muslim, who was chased and physically attacked by locals in Teuva, a town in western Finland.
See also:
Suspected hate crimes reported in 2019 totaled 899 cases, which is 1.21% less from 910 cases in the previous year, according to the Police University College of Finland.
As in previous years, the lion’s share (72.3%) of suspected hate crimes was due to ethnic or national background, which rose by 2.52% fro 650 from 634 cases. Religion was the second-biggest group (14.8%) of hate crimes totaling 133 cases, down by 14.2% from 155 cases in the previous year and down 43.4% from 2017.
Reports the Police University College of Finland: “In 63 percent of the cases, the victims of the crimes based on ethnic or national origin were males and in 37 percent of the cases, victims were females. Most common crimes targeted against the males were assaults whereas majority of the crimes
targeted against females were defamation.”
And adds: “In relation to the number of people with foreign citizenship and living in Finland, those holding a citizenship of Somalia experienced the highest frequency of crimes motived by ethnic or national origin in 2019. From all the reports of offenses based on ethnic or national origin, nine percent of offenses were against a member of a Roma minority. Of these, the most common suspected crimes were defamation.”
Some NGOs like the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), state that Muslim women are the most vulnerable to Islamophobia. In France, 81.5% were women, and over 90% in the Netherlands suffered attacks due to Islamophobia.
Seventy-nine percent of Muslims do not report their most experience of discrimination to any competent organization, according to ENAR.
If this is true elsewhere, then it suggests that hate crime reported in Finland is the tip of the iceberg and hate crime against Muslim women underreported.
My name is Alejandro Díaz Ortiz, I am a Puerto Rican artist, musician, songwriter, graphic designer, and filmmaker who has lived in Finland for the past 9 years. I have been creating art and composing music here ever since I first arrived. Therefore, many know me for my performances in public spaces, gigs, concerts, and other cultural/community events I have participated in over the last years. 2020 has been particularly exceptional because I just released my first single, “Say No” this year.
I am writing this article because I am currently facing deportation after a mentally devastating 4 years waiting process, and for reasons that I considered to be unfair and unjustifiable. Everything has been very well documented since I started my legal fight with Migri back in 2016.
Besides my artistic practice, I have been working as a restaurant chef for several years, which means that I have had constant income sources. I have learned the language, my networks and friends are here, so Finland has become my home for almost a decade.
The notice of deportation states that I have not provided credible evidence of my income and that they have denied me a residence before. Firstly, it is a false statement because I have sent Migri copies of my working contracts and payslips (previously provided by my attorney), proving that my monthly income is more than the minimum of 1,198€ net salary required them. For instance, my last contract is from January of this year, where I am still working in a permanent position. However, later I found out through the help of a new lawyer and one Finnish activist that my application was being handled as a “visa through family ties” even though I was specifying to my lawyers that I am applying for work, not family. Therefore, that limit requirement of 1198e a month was not for my case as the amount is higher for those applying through work. They used this against me. This fact had never been pointed out to me by either Migri or my former lawyers. Still, I was making an average of 1,600 euros a month, which should have been enough either way.
Continue reading “Alejandro Díaz Ortiz: Odyssey in the Finnish Immigration System”Secondly, the first time Migri denied me a residence permit, it happened based on a false accusation for a crime that I didn’t commit to which I appealed at court and eventually won. The court absolved me from all charges. Still, Migri considered the previous case as one of the reasons given for the second negative decision. All of this happened before I applied for a permanent visa, which I did later shortly after the Court of Appeal decision. It seems the court did not get the memo and still used it to reject my application.
The Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* have been quick to point out how much migrants (all?!) are an economic burden to Finland. A new study by Citigroup claims that ethnic inequality and inequity have cost the US a staggering $16 trillion!
While parties like the PS and other ones who follow their racist tune believe that social exclusion and racism are cheap, they should think twice.
“Racial inequality has always had an outsized cost, one that was thought to be paid only by underrepresented groups,” said Citigroup Banking Chair Raymond McGuire in a statement. “What this report underscores is that this tariff is levied on us all.”
The high cost of racism is not only maintained institutionally but through outright lies. One of these is by the PS that talks about migration as one whole when they mean Muslims and people of color.
If racism has cost the US trillions of dollars, how much do you think it has cost Finland?
Billions of euros, possibly?
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Rasismin vastustaminen ja maahanmuuttajavähemmistöjen puolustaminen tuntuu käytännön tasolla jäävän kansalaisten ja järjestöjen tehtäväksi.
Perussuomalaisten noustua suurella rasistijoukkiolla eduskuntaan vuonna 2011 kansalaisyhteiskunta heräsi. Lukemattomat netti- ja reaalimaailman yhteisöt nostavat esiin yhteiskuntamme ikävää lieveilmiötä ja yrittävät keksiä, kuinka rasismia vähennetään ja kuinka saadaan ihmiset luopumaan syrjivistä asenteistaan.
On vaikea sanoa, olemmeko loppujen lopuksi saaneet paljonkaan aikaisiksi, mutta ainakin olemme voimaannuttaneet toisiamme. Yhä useampi kansalainen uskaltaa nousta vastustamaan rasismia ja sanoa sanottavansa nettikeskusteluissa – ehkäpä naamatustenkin. Se on kuitenkin vain alku.
Rasismi ei vähene, jos sen lisäämistä johdetaan Suomen eduskunnasta. Eivät kansanedustajat ja kunnanvaltuutetutkaan taida arjessa juuri puuttua poliitikkotovereiden rasismiin. Tai eduskunnan puhemiehet – pysäyttävätkö he riittävän napakasti rasistisen puheen eduskunnan istunnoissa?
Jos puuttumattomuus johtuu pelosta, tilanne alkaa olla jo vaarallinen demokratian kannalta ja asiaan olisi tartuttava nopeasti. Jos taas on kysymys siitä, että halutaan pikkuisen sallia kansanryhmää vastaan kiihottamista, olisi demokratian säilymistä kannattavan osan kansanedustajista noustava esiin ja painokkaasti tuotava esille se seikka, että rasismia ei Suomen eduskunnassa harjoiteta. Mutta turha taitaa tällainen toive olla, valitsevathan puolueet yhteistuumin, lähes ilman soraääniä, jokaisen uuden vaalikauden aluksi ainakin yhden julkirasistisen puhemiehen.
Usein tuottavat antirasisteiksikin ilmoittautuneet poliitikot pettymyksen kannattajilleen. Vain aniharva on uskaltanut (tai halunnut) asettua julkisesti tukemaan maahan saapuneita pakolaisia. Suuri joukko poliitikkojakin louskutti hätäänsä ja raivoansa Oulun raiskausten takia – ihan vain siksi, että tekijät eivät olleet supisuomalaisia.
Continue reading “Reija Härkönen: Kansanedustajat, olette suurelta osin vastuussa siitä, saako rasismi edetä Suomessa”One case in particular that took place in Teuva on June 6 is still under investigation, and there is no indication when those guilty will face charges. The case involves a Muslim insulted and chased by some townspeople forcing his car off the road into a ditch and assaulted.
If you speak to the victim, whose name is Fares A-O, there is an abundance of evidence that shows that one clear bias motive was his ethnic background.
Here is a simple forumula to determine a hate crime:
Tejuka, a Teuva newspaper, published in June a spread and an editorial about what happened to Fares.
Writes Tejuka: “…soon [the attackers] forced [Fares] on the ground and started to rough him up by hitting and kicking him. Someone held Fares in a chokehold while others continued to hit him. Fares could no longer breathe. Somebody yelled: ‘Kill that mamu (a derogatory term for migrant)!”
Fares ended up taken to the Seinjäjoki and later to the hospital in Vaasa where they conducted tests and treated his wounds.
While what happened in Teuva is a hate crime case, it is also one of the worse to come to public light this year.
Indeed, the police can give a million excuses why this particular case is taking such a long time to investigate. One of these could even be the Covid pandemic, but the police officer in charge of the investigation did not mention it as a reason.
It is clear that a person that goes through such a traumatic event wants justice to move swiftly as opposed to slowly. The incident happened in June, or five months ago.
Apart from dealing with one’s trauma of what happened, Fares said that one of the most challenging matters was the slow pace of the investigation.
“Immigration from Africa and the Middle East is harmful and becomes more harmful as their numbers grow.”
The quote by Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairperson Jussi Halla-aho in today’s session of parliament is an example of his disdain and hatred of people of color. The reason why he and his party victimize people in such a racist fashion is that migrants have little to no political power in Finland.
But they are actually weak, a facade, similar to baby teeth. A house of cards built on hot air.
It looks like the PS are going to suffer a significant setback on November 3 if US President Donald Trump loses the election.
Parties like the PS have copied and pasted Trump, which partly explains why they pour on their racism in the way they do. Today’s parliamentary session is a prime example.
The PS are the most ungrateful party that I know. They label and kick migrants, especially Muslims and blacks, who in turn give them an opportunistic chance to gain political power.
The copy-cat PS uses the slogan from Brexit, “Take back Finland.” But they should know that we, the good people of Finland who don’t fall for their xenophobic baloney, are going to take back this country.
All of the hatred and lies they spread will not be forgotten.
I, for one, have pledged to fight them and all the other racist and toxic forces until my last breath.
Many, if not most migrants who have moved to Finland, have heard the following claim: Learn the language, and presto you are integrated.
While learning the language of your new homeland helps, it is only one of many things that will help you adapt to society.
Erna Bödström’s dissertation, “Welcome to Fantasy Finland,” points out a lot of facts why Finland’s official integration process is selective and exclusive.
Apart from painting a rosy picture of white Finnish society where visible migrants are sometimes doing menial work, integration does not promote interaction between white Finns and migrants and visible minorities.
Another observation that Bödström makes is that there is nothing in the integration brochures about racism and how difficult it is to find work.
Bödström sees integration as a process where the newly arrived resident becomes familiar with the social services and entering the labor market.
Some politicians, as we saw during the hysterical reaction of the Oulu sexual assault cases, claimed outright that Finland’s integration program has failed.
Failed?
True.
The integration program is, in many respects, a tool used by the state to show off its exceptionalism and society’s best side. Another role it appears to have is to exclude newcomers and minorities from gaining social and political power.
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*Kotoutiminen is a he Finnish term for integration. It came about in the late-1990s because there was no such term in the Finnish language.
Who can forget the 10-year-old girl allegedly bullied and physically attacked in a Northern Espoo school by her classmate(s) for wearing a hijab? When the incident occurred, the police quickly denied that racism was a factor in the bullying.
Considering that too often the police months, if not years, to resolve racism cases, in the particular case of the Muslim girl the police stated three days after the incident “that no such motives have come up in the investigation by the police.”
When it comes t racism and discrimination cases, due process in Finland has different actions, priorities, and timelines.
The recent case of a white Finnish boy bullied in Vantaa, and whose case has received a lot of public attention, there is a vibrant ongoing debate about bullying at schools. A good letter to the editor was published Saturday by Helsingin Sanomat.
Continue reading “Two bullying cases in Finland, two standards by the police and society”